Galen
I had awoken that morning from the best sleep I’d had in ages, mostly in part to who was sleeping next to me. I watched her sleep for a while before nature called and I had to get up. Since we had finished off the hog last night I figured I would surprise her with a deer for breakfast. When I turned the corner heading back into the camp I looked up just in time to see a column of fire shooting straight for me. Fortunately, I was able to dive out of the way of most of it. She had tried to fucking roast me. Thank God, she hadn’t been in dragon form or I would have been a very crispy goner.
“WHAT THE EVER-LOVING FUCK!!!”, I screamed as I walked into the camp. I was still trying to put out some of the smoking places when I looked over to find her on the pallet. If I hadn’t been so shook up I might have thought she was cute sitting there on her knees, with her big doe eyes and her hands over her mouth. But hell, I was barely in better shape than that hog from last night.
“I’m so sor…”, she started but I cut her off with a “DON’T” and left it at that. I made a mental note right then and there to always announce my presence and to never startle her again.
**
After breakfast, I figured that we should start moving. I was never sure if it was just my restless sprit or the army training but I never liked to stay in one camp for very long.
“We should be able to cross into Lonean Provence in a day or two, as long as the weather holds up. Being from the mountains, you will probably feel more at home there.”
“Lonean? Really?”, she asked as surprise colored her expression. “I didn’t realize I was that far from home. I never thought I would leave Calda Falls, much less be traveling to Lonean. Is it true there was once a great dragon population there?”
“Yes, it’s true. It was once my homeland but most of my town was destroyed in the war. It’s still has some beautiful places though. I really think you will like Kales. It reminds me of Calda Falls, as it has the same lushness to its forests and the waterfalls.”
“You’ve been to Calda? When?”
“Oh, many years ago, when I was still a green recruit. We passed through there on a training expedition.”
We continued to make small talk as we finished packing up the camp and loaded the transporter. She seemed to have bounced back from her earlier embarrassment about trying to barbeque me and was looking around excitedly at everything we passed as we rode by. It was as if I was getting to see the world through a new set of eyes when I watched her expressions. I had traveled this route hundreds of times but I saw the wonder of it for the first time as I watched her. Even with everything those mongrels had put her though, she was still able to open up to the wonder around her. I had to admit, she was a lot stronger than me. Even with my training I don’t think I could have been as resilient as her.
We traveled for most of the day, only stopping when necessity dictated. I wanted to put as much distance between us and Demarie as possible. Finally, as dusk approached I found us a little area near a stream that would make a nice campsite for the evening. We were making excellent time and there was no reason to push any further into the night.
As we set up with only what we would need for the night, something in the air felt off to me. Aleeka seemed to feel it also as she moved closer to me and nodded. I caught a strange scent just as a dart flew past me almost hitting Aleeka. She let out a small scream as I pushed her to the ground behind a large boulder and scanned the area for our threat. I saw something move out of the corner of my right eye and spun around just in time to miss another dart. Alright you bastards you want to play, let’s play. I rolled to the ground and behind a bush to hide my advance to the tree line where our attacker was hiding. He didn’t even hear me coming as I snuck up and grabbed him around the neck in a choke hold. His spindly legs thrashed about as I lifted him off of the ground. Suddenly Aleeka’s scream broke the air. I quickly dispatched the piece of shit I was holding and ran to help her.
She was surrounded by four of the bastards and when I came crashing through to her it was enough of a distraction for her dragon. I had never seen someone shift so quickly. One minute she was standing there trembling, the next a magnificent golden dragon held her spot. It had happened in the blink of an eye and completely through off her attackers. She sent two of them flying into trees with a meaty thud when her long, thick tail swished between them. The two in front tried to run but there wasn’t enough time, as an arch of fire rained down from her. Their screams were quickly silenced as the flames consumed them.
I had never seen a more glorious creature in all my life. In human form, she was a beauty to behold but her dragon was divine. She was massive with deep golden scales that had red tinges on the edges, giving her a copper sheen and large wings that shimmered in the remaining sunlight. With a long, supple neck and two horns on the top of her head that curved back toward her neck. While my dragon was even bigger than hers and built for power, she was more agile in her movements, more graceful, but just as powerful. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her.
When she turned to look at me, I was hit with such an intensity of feeling. My dragon clawed at my skin to get out, to be fully in the presence of this wondrous beauty, and I could deny him no longer.